Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics provide information on the types of enterprises engaged in international trade in services and show how enterprises in different industries supply services and how this relates to their primary activity. STEC disclose additional insights into trade statistics, by allowing the profiling of the enterprises according to selected characteristics such as number of employees, type of ownership and economic activity.
STEC data are grouped into 3 tables, each one focusing on a specific aspect:
STEC by activity and size class of number of employees and self-employed persons - the table shows the contribution of the various economic activities to total trade and the importance of the size of an enterprise (in terms of number of employees) in cross-border trade in services. The information can be used to analyse the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade.
STEC by activity, type of product and additional geographical breakdown - the table aims to show which sectors of the economy were involved in the trade of each service item (according EBOPS 2010 main items).
STEC by activity and type of control - the table shows the contribution of economic activities as well as the different types of ownership to total trade. It can be used to analyse the impact of globalisation on international trade in services and to estimate the importance of multinational enterprises for total trade.
A+B - Agriculture, forestry, and fishing; mining and quarrying,
D+E - Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities,
I+L+O+P+Q+R+S+T+U - Accommodation and food service activities; real estate activities; public administration, defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities; other services.
· NACE Sections:
C - Manufacturing,
F - Construction,
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,
H - Transportation and storage,
J - Information and communication,
K - Financial and insurance activities,
M - Professional, scientific, and technical activities,
N - Administrative and support service activities.
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
3. Transport
4. Travel
5. Construction
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e.
3.5. Statistical unit
Enterprise.
3.6. Statistical population
Table 17 of the Commission implementing regulation (EU) 2020/1197 defines the statistical population for STEC as “Total exports or imports of services, traded between residents and non-residents; NACE Sections A to U”.
The activity breakdown covers NACE sections from A to U.
The product breakdown covers EBOPS 2010 main items.
3.7. Reference area
The economic territory of Bulgaria, including the Bulgarian embassies and representations in foreign countries.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Available from 2022 following Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The data are reported in thousands of national currency (BGN).
Eurostat disseminates in thousands of Euro.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152on European business statistics sets the data requirements in the field of services trade by enterprise characteristics for the EU Member States and EFTA countries. The exact technical specifications are listed in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, table 17 "Country-level business statistics on trade in services by enterprise characteristics (STEC) – annual data".
The variable must be reported annually with first reference year 2022.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
In order to achieve better consistency of activities and deadlines for production of statistical information, and reduce the reporting burden for respondents, the BNB has an Agreement on cooperation with the NSI. It defines data sharing in the areas in which the two institutions have mutual interests and/or shared responsibility; types of statistics developed, compiled and disseminated by each of the two institutions; exchange of individual data, etc. For the purpose of ITSS and BOP compilation, a stable and regular data exchange between the two institutions is established, and the BNB receives:
monthly data on foreign trade and number of travellers;
quarterly data on illegal activities and FISIM;
annual data on insurance services, and on enterprises from the NSI Business register, which are used for updating the direct reporting sample of respondents trading internationally in services and main economic activity (NACE Rev. 2), number of employees and type of control for the STEC purposes.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society. Article 4 (2) of the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank, Article 7 (10) of the Currency Law and Article 25 of the Law on Statistics ensure the confidentiality of the individual data. The collection of statistical information is also carried out under the requirements of Council Regulation 2533/98 of November 1998 (as amended) whose Article 8 regulates in detail the protection and use of confidential statistical information collected by the ESCB. The ECB guideline 1998/NP28 defines common rules and minimum standards to protect the confidentiality of the individual statistical information collected by the European Central Bank assisted by the national central banks. Data are processed by Macroeconomic Statistics Division within the Statistics Directorate of the BNB, while strictly respecting data confidentiality. The reporting agents are informed of their rights and obligations with regard to the provision of information as well as the usage of the information they provide for the production of statistics in the instructions regarding data requirements. Access to individual data is restricted only to the staff that needs information for the performance of the respective duties. Authorisation rules and protection measures for the logical access of staff to confidential statistical information are in place. Statistical data and systems are located in areas subject to controlled physical access which is restricted to authorised staff only. According to Article.7 (10) of the Currency Law the BNB is permitted to publish and to disseminate to other persons and institutions only aggregated data. According to Statistics Act, Article 25 individual data received and collected through statistical surveys shall constitute a statistical secret and may be used only for statistical purposes. The National Statistical Institute and statistical authorities and their staff may not disclose or provide:
individual statistical data;
statistical data which can be matched in a way that enables the identification of a specific statistical unit;
statistical information which aggregates data about less than three statistical units or about a population in which the relative share of the value of a surveyed parameter of a single unit exceeds 85 per cent of the total value of such parameter for all units in the population.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Bulgaria performs the primary confidentiality checks automatically in the Integrated statistical information system which was established for the purpose of BOP, ITSS and STEC compilation at the Statistics Directorate, BNB.
8.1. Release calendar
Data compiled by the Statistics Directorate at the BNB is published according to the Statistical Data Release Calendar available at the BNB’s website in the section Press Office/ Calendar but STEC data is not included in it at present. STEC data are only disseminated by Eurostat.
8.2. Release calendar access
At present the BNB does not intend to publish STEC data.
8.3. Release policy - user access
STEC data are only disseminated by Eurostat.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
No
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Not available.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
No microdata is disseminated because of confidentiality constrains.
Automatic formal and logical controls are implemented in the Integrated statistical information system which was established for the purpose of BOP, ITSS and STEC compilation at the Statistics Directorate, BNB. During the data compilation process the system does not allow processing errors such as coding, editing and tabulation errors. Cross-checking techniques are implemented for verifying the accuracy of the data.
After receiving directly reported forms, the experts administer quality checks which include:
Micro-data checks for inconsistencies - when necessary, reporting units are contacted for additional information necessary for code verifications, or for confirmation of reported values;
Analysis of the aggregated data series;
Periodic reviews in order to identify necessary steps to maintain quality requirements.
Respondents are informed of the results of the quality checks by emails and when necessary, they are asked to revise their initial data. The source data are analyzed for underreporting/misreporting, in particular to check for:
temporal consistency,
consistency with related data sources.
Collection, processing and dissemination of statistics are organized in such a way as to ensure that quality is closely monitored.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Eurostat assessed the completeness and accessibility of the 2023 dataset by evaluating the proportion of mandatory cells reported and the extent of confidentiality.
All mandatory cells across all tables were fully reported (100%), while approximately 12% of the dataset was flagged as confidential.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Hypothetic internal users: research department; External users: policymakers, journalists, students, researchers, international organizations. We use hypothetic because no users show interest on that data.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
At present it is not evaluated.
12.3. Completeness
The BNB reported 100% of the mandatory cells.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
100%
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The STEC data are obtained by microdata linking of the traditional ITS data and the data from the business redisters.
The structural and content validations are implemented in the Integrated statistical information system which was established for the purpose of BOP, ITSS and STEC compilation.
Standard data validation was performed, in order to secure consistency within and among the STEC tables.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
No
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
No
13.3.2. Measurement error
No
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
No
13.3.5. Model assumption error
No
14.1. Timeliness
According to the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics, data transmission of STEC datasets to Eurostat takes place 18 months after the end of the reference period (T+18).
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
In line with the current Eurostat's benchmark revsion policy data should be considered final 10 years after the reference period.
14.2. Punctuality
2023 data were transmitted to Eurostat ahead of the scheduled official transmission deadline.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
STEC data are compiled in accordance with the methodology set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2152, ensuring a high degree of geographical comparability across reporting countries.
The cross-domain comparability is fully achieved, because the geographical breakdown for BOP, ITSS and STEC data is the same.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
STEC data are comparable across the entire time series, available from 2022 onward.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
STEC data are comparable across the entire time series, available from 2022 onward.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The consistency between BOP, ITSS and STEC data is achieved. No discrepancies between BOP, ITSS and STEC data should occur as the IT system is built to assure consistency automatically.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
All STEC tables (STEC01, STEC02, STEC03) are internally consistent.
STEC data are typically produced by linking International Trade in Services enterprise surveys with the Statistical Business Register, creating additional information from existing national statistical data sources at a moderate cost for compilers, without increasing the burden to respondents , i.e. for the traders and businesses.
17.1. Data revision - policy
With the January data, published in March, and the July data, published in September of the current reporting year, the timetables give opportunity for revising the data for the previous up to three years, if necessary; BOP transmission and publication in September coincides with annual ITS transmission, so data between these two domains are equal and consistent. The same datasets for Services are used for the compilation of STEC data for the reference year.
17.2. Data revision - practice
STEC data for 2023 and revised data for 2022 transmitted in June 2025 are consistent with the BOP and ITSS data transsmitted to Eurostat in September 2024.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
Services data based on quarterly survey of enterprises trading internationally in services – information on enterprise level: Maintenance and repair services n.i.e. (SB); Postal and Courier services (SC4); Transport services other than passenger and freight; Construction (SE); Financial services other than FISIM (SG1); Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e. (SH); Telecommunications, computer, and information services (SI); Other business services (SJ incl. SJ1, SJ2, SJ3); Personal, cultural, and recreational services (SK); Government goods and services n.i.e. (SL). For above mentioned services: Product and geographical breakdown – available detailed information from ITSS; Activity, Size class of number of employees breakdown and Type of control – available from the NSI Business Register. Services data based on estimations – cannot be allocated to individual enterprises: Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others (SA); Freight and Passenger transportation (SC); Travel (SD); FISIM (SG2); Insurance services (SF), Services not allocated (SN). For services data based on estimations: Activity – NACE Rev.2; Product and geographical breakdown – available detailed information from ITSS; Size class of number of employees breakdown – considered as non-linkable or non-attributed, used _U; Type of control - considered as non-linkable or non-attributed, used _U. The national Business register serve as the sources for the enterprise characteristics.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
Different types of data collection are used for different types of services: Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others - identified according to the nature of transaction codification system from foreign trade data provided on a monthly basis by the NSI;
Freight transportation - estimates following a methodology of the BNB and the NSI from foreign trade data by mode of transportation and nationality of the carrier;
Passenger transport - estimated from travel data;
Travel - based on the NSI monthly data on the cross-border travellers multiplied by the respective expenditure by type of purpose of travel based on the Border Survey among Travelling Bulgarians and Foreigners conducted by the BNB;
Maintenance and repair services n.i.e., Other transport services, Postal and Courier services, Other services - quarterly survey of enterprises trading internationally in goods, services and current transfers;
FISIM and insurance services are obtained quarterly from the NSI. After prosessing them and receiving annual ITSS data they are further combined on an enterprise level with the NSI Business Register data on activity, size class and type of control. Unallocated on individual level data on services are considered as non-attributed for size class and type of control.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation is implemented in the Integrated statistical information system which was established for the purpose of BOP, ITSS and STEC compilation. It ensures full consistensy between these three domains and the preparation and reporting of statistical information to Eurostat in the required format, the breakdowns and nomenclatures, and validation and integrity rules. Standard data validation was performed, in order to secure consistency within and among the STEC tables.
18.5. Data compilation
Data compilation is implemented in the Integrated statistical information system and combines ITSS data and data from the Business Register.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
No
18.6. Adjustment
No
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics (STEC) statistics provide information on the types of enterprises engaged in international trade in services and show how enterprises in different industries supply services and how this relates to their primary activity. STEC disclose additional insights into trade statistics, by allowing the profiling of the enterprises according to selected characteristics such as number of employees, type of ownership and economic activity.
STEC data are grouped into 3 tables, each one focusing on a specific aspect:
STEC by activity and size class of number of employees and self-employed persons - the table shows the contribution of the various economic activities to total trade and the importance of the size of an enterprise (in terms of number of employees) in cross-border trade in services. The information can be used to analyse the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade.
STEC by activity, type of product and additional geographical breakdown - the table aims to show which sectors of the economy were involved in the trade of each service item (according EBOPS 2010 main items).
STEC by activity and type of control - the table shows the contribution of economic activities as well as the different types of ownership to total trade. It can be used to analyse the impact of globalisation on international trade in services and to estimate the importance of multinational enterprises for total trade.
A+B - Agriculture, forestry, and fishing; mining and quarrying,
D+E - Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities,
I+L+O+P+Q+R+S+T+U - Accommodation and food service activities; real estate activities; public administration, defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities; other services.
· NACE Sections:
C - Manufacturing,
F - Construction,
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles,
H - Transportation and storage,
J - Information and communication,
K - Financial and insurance activities,
M - Professional, scientific, and technical activities,
N - Administrative and support service activities.
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
3. Transport
4. Travel
5. Construction
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e.
Enterprise.
Table 17 of the Commission implementing regulation (EU) 2020/1197 defines the statistical population for STEC as “Total exports or imports of services, traded between residents and non-residents; NACE Sections A to U”.
The activity breakdown covers NACE sections from A to U.
The product breakdown covers EBOPS 2010 main items.
The economic territory of Bulgaria, including the Bulgarian embassies and representations in foreign countries.
Calendar year.
The STEC data are obtained by microdata linking of the traditional ITS data and the data from the business redisters.
The structural and content validations are implemented in the Integrated statistical information system which was established for the purpose of BOP, ITSS and STEC compilation.
Standard data validation was performed, in order to secure consistency within and among the STEC tables.
The data are reported in thousands of national currency (BGN).
Eurostat disseminates in thousands of Euro.
Data compilation is implemented in the Integrated statistical information system and combines ITSS data and data from the Business Register.
Services data based on quarterly survey of enterprises trading internationally in services – information on enterprise level: Maintenance and repair services n.i.e. (SB); Postal and Courier services (SC4); Transport services other than passenger and freight; Construction (SE); Financial services other than FISIM (SG1); Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e. (SH); Telecommunications, computer, and information services (SI); Other business services (SJ incl. SJ1, SJ2, SJ3); Personal, cultural, and recreational services (SK); Government goods and services n.i.e. (SL). For above mentioned services: Product and geographical breakdown – available detailed information from ITSS; Activity, Size class of number of employees breakdown and Type of control – available from the NSI Business Register. Services data based on estimations – cannot be allocated to individual enterprises: Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others (SA); Freight and Passenger transportation (SC); Travel (SD); FISIM (SG2); Insurance services (SF), Services not allocated (SN). For services data based on estimations: Activity – NACE Rev.2; Product and geographical breakdown – available detailed information from ITSS; Size class of number of employees breakdown – considered as non-linkable or non-attributed, used _U; Type of control - considered as non-linkable or non-attributed, used _U. The national Business register serve as the sources for the enterprise characteristics.
Annual.
According to the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics, data transmission of STEC datasets to Eurostat takes place 18 months after the end of the reference period (T+18).
STEC data are compiled in accordance with the methodology set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2152, ensuring a high degree of geographical comparability across reporting countries.
The cross-domain comparability is fully achieved, because the geographical breakdown for BOP, ITSS and STEC data is the same.
STEC data are comparable across the entire time series, available from 2022 onward.
